Darkness Falls
by Ace Cream
Summary: Naruto discovers that he has a.....brother! 0o
1. Default Chapter

Chapter One  
  
--Darkness Falls  
  
"You said that you were going to treat me to Ramen!" Naruto pouted at Iruka. He had promised Naruto that if he somehow managed not to screw up three missions in a row, he would be treated to 3 bowls of Ramen. Iruka dug in his pocket and flipped open a tattered leather wallet. He reluctantly took out a few bills and stared at the rest of his month's pay disappointedly.   
  
"Fine… you win.." he finally said, after minutes of uncomfortable staring from the blonde-haired rookie ninja.  
  
***  
  
"Chicken Ramen please!" Naruto yelled enthusiastically into the depths of the bar. Hearing no response and seeing nobody he peered over the hopped over the counter. Instead of landing softly on the ground he jump with interrupted by a large bulge right behind the counter. The bulge let out a squeal of pain and anger. Naruto lost his balance and fell flat on his face.  
  
Rubbing his forehead attentively he looked up at what had caused his unpleasant fall. The pink-haired female ninja, Sakura, was holding a large pot in one hand, and massaging her head with the other.  
  
"What where your going you loud-mouthed brat!!" Sakura barked at Naruto. Any normal person would be frightened of her when she screamed, but Naruto was far too used to this to be affected.  
  
"Why are you at the Ramen bar, Sakura-chan?" Naruto said, leaning very close to her face.  
  
"No, baka, I work her part-time." She stood up and walked over to a huge stove and placed the pot on top of it, flipping the knob to ignite the flames underneath. She closed her eyes irritably and began to walk towards Naruto. Her fist was raised and ready to strike when a shadow fell from above and blocked the small amount of light flowing through her eyelids.  
  
When she opened them she found that Naruto's back was to her. Both him and Iruka-sensei were staring at the man who had suddenly appeared in front of the Ramen bar. He was a blonde like Naruto and had spiked hair, mostly sticking to the left and some hanging in front of his young, smoothly shaped face---Or at least his mouth. The rest of his head was completely covered with a black cloth.   
  
When the man finally spoke it was like running long nails over a chalkboard. "My name is Naku. I am from the Hidden Village of Speed, in the Wind Country." Ever word he spoke made the hair on Sakura's back stand on end. "Uzumaki Naruto, come to the gates of the Practice Area number forty-four three days from now." The man who called himself 'Naku' began to calmly walk away.  
  
Naruto stood with his usual confused frown on his face, lips poked out. "And why should I?" He said, putting both hands on his hips.  
  
Naku stopped in his tracks and slowly turned to face him again. Again he spoke with the same chilling voice that made Sakura shudder visibly. "If you do not come, we will come looking for you; And next time I won't be so polite…" 


	2. Meeting with Strangers

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Chapter Two

--Meeting with a Genius

_*The three days have passed after the mysterious ninja invited Naruto to a meeting in Practice Area # forty-four*_

"You should leave now, Sakura-chan." Naruto said from a room where he was not visible by his pink-haired companion. "Why, your home is nice." She replied. She was looking at a few old pictures set up on a small desk. One that particularly peeked her interest was a picture of a man that looked somewhat like Naruto. The same hair and eyes. "Naruto-kun?"

"Eh?"

"Is this your father?" She asked, holding up the picture so that it was facing the room that Naruto was in. He poked his head out of the bathroom to take a look at it, a blue toothbrush protruding from his mouth, filled with foam. He then withdrew back inside. 

"Aren't you supposed to be the _smart_ one?"

"What is that supposed to mean?!" Sakura yelled, slamming the picture back down on the desk.

"That's the Fourth Hokage, you of all people should know that…" 

"But…why does he…and you…" He stepped out of the restroom, already fully dressed. 

"Hmm? You say something Sakura-chan?"

"No!" She quickly replaced the photograph in its proper position. 

"Well, like I said; You should be going now. I don't like people in my house while I'm gone."

"Your not seriously thinking of _going_, are you?!" Sakura poked Naruto in the chest. "You don't know anything about that guy or where he's from!" 

"There's no way you could possibly understand, Sakura-chan." Naruto said as he slipped a few kunai and shuriken into his leg pouch. "I am going to become Hokage someday; I can't back out of a challenge now!" He wrapped his Konoha forehead protector around his head and tied it at the back. 

"Fine! Then I'm telling Kakashi-sensei and Sasuke-kun!" She threatened. She started to head for the door when Naruto snatched her back by the arm. "Let go of me!"

"You can't tell anybody about this. Kakashi-sensei will only worry and come after me, and Sasuke will try to show off again." He released her. "This is about me, and _nobody_ is going to mess this fight up."

"Naruto…" She massaged her wrist where he had left a red bruise.

"I love you…Sakura-chan…" Before she had time to react at all, he was gone out his room window and down into the dark streets of Konoha. As he passed the Ramen bar, and was sure he was out of earshot he said out loud to himself: "Man! I'm so good! Right now she probably doesn't know _what_ to think!"

***Meanwhile***

"He's late…"

"Don't be so impatient, Naku. He is sure to come."

"You better be right about this guy, Sumaru…."

***Back to Naruto, at the gates of Practice Area #44***

Naruto stared at the gates topped with barbed wire. He was just starting to have doubts about this secret meeting. 'What if that guy is trying to lure me into a trap?…' He shook his head violently, as if by doing so all the negative thoughts about his decision would disappear. "No! I _will_ go!" Naruto clutched the cold thin metal bands of the fence and pulled himself up. As the fence was not that high, he made it to the top in a very short time. He sat on the rim of the fence for a few moments before lunging onto the other side. 

Unfortunately for the young ninja he got un unpleasant surprise when he landed on the other side. As soon as his feet made contact with the moist ground inside of PA44, several mines and explosions were set off. Naruto scrambled further into the forest in a futile attempt to escape the traps. In the process of running away he triggered more traps, sending dozens of kunai and shuriken hurdling towards him. 

He continued running as fast as he could. Then suddenly he was swept off the ground and carried high into the air, above the forest. In the center, about five kilometers away, he could see a giant tower. This is where the Chuunin Tournament is held each year. Just as he thought about looking up at the creature that had lifted him from the ground so easily, he was released and plummeted back into the forest, wailing all the way down. 

His face made an unfriendly acquaintance with the rough dirt below. Nearby he could hear the soft pitter-patter of feet. He struggled a little, but managed to sit up strait. Closest to him was a boy who looked not that much older than himself. Black markings covered most of the right side of his face. A large sword was clamped onto his back. Somehow the sword type seemed familiar in Naruto's eyes.

"Hey, hey! That's the same kind of weapon Zabuza-san used!"

The boy didn't pay Naruto any attention. He was looking in his direction, but seemed to be looking at something other than him.

"Eh? Who are you? And what are you looking---" Naruto had turned his head to look behind him. Two more people were in his presence. One he recognized immediately as the ninja Naku, who extended the invitation into this area. Next to him, sitting on the ground, was a short boy probably about half his own age. He wore an old-fashioned red yukata. He had his eyes closed and his hands were performing the Ram seal with his hands in front of his face.

"Hey, hey! Who are you guys?!"


	3. Search Party Part 1

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Chapter Three

--Search Party [ 森林戦い ]

_*Naruto is inside of Practice Area #44, surrounded by the mysterious shinobi, Naku, and two unknown characters, alone*_

"Hey, hey! Who are you guys?!"

The shinobi with the oversized sword bent his head ever so slightly and inserted his pinky finger into his left ear, swiveling it around a bit. "Do you have to be such a loudmouth, kid?" Naruto frowned angrily. "Are you going to answer my question?! Who are you guys?" He was now standing up, fists clenched. 

"We will tell you soon enough…" The child that was squatted next to a tree was now standing up and started advancing towards Naruto. "But first…" He drew the double-bladed sword from its sheath on his back. "I want to do a little experiment…"

"Eh?" Naruto observed the little boy from a distance. He concluded that the boy was no older than the Hokage's eight year old son, Konohamaru. "Hey, Isn't it past your bed time kid?"

"Ha! So the little rodent has a sense of humor." Naku said from over the little boy's shoulder.

"What?! Who are you callin' a rodent?!"

"You are the child that the nine-tailed fox demon was sealed inside of, am I correct?"

Suddenly an everlasting dumbstruck expression swept over Naruto's face. "How…how did you know that?"

"There isn't much we don't know about you Uzumaki Naruto…." Naku pushed himself from the tree and marched forward. "We've been searching for you for a long time." He patted the tiny fighter on the head. "Ever since Sumaru here was born."

"Enough talking!" Sumaru barked. Naku released his head, somewhat shocked. "We fight now."

*** Meanwhile, at the Mission Recruit Office in Konoha***

"Hmm…. So Naruto went off to that place without permission, eh?"

"Hai. Kakashi-sensei…do you think Naruto-kun will be ok?"

"I don't think so, Sakura. That is a dangerous place that Naruto ran off to. There is a possibility that he could be killed. By either the traps set around it or the people who lured him there."

"People? You mean you think there is more than one?" Sakura said. She was nervously biting her nails. 

"Mm. Its definitely at least three people." He turned around to find Shikamaru seated alone. His arms were folded and his eyes closed. His eye twitched. Somehow he could feel the stares of the two ninjas. "Let me guess…." He stood up, transferring his hands to his pockets as he did so. "You want me to tag along, right?"

"It'll give you some practice." Kakashi smiled. "After all the Chuunin exam will be held there."

"How troublesome…"

***Back to Naruto***

Naruto rolled to the right as the ninja child names Sumaru plunged his double-bladed katana into the ground where his head had been the moment before. "Hey, hey! What a minute!"

He stood up quickly, almost tripping over his feet as he did so. He ducked as Sumaru attempted to decapitate him with a horizontal swipe of his blade. Naruto had been pleading with the boy for about ten minutes at least, but to little or no effect.

Finally he decided to get serious and cease his running away. Digging into his leg pouch he took out two kunai, holding one in each hand. _'If he wants a fight, then a fight he gets'_**. Now all he had to do was search for a blind spot, an opening for attack. Sumaru lunged his sword at Naruto. He ducked to the left, and upon seeing an opportunity to attack, flung a kunai at the child. Sumaru moved forward in an attempt to avoid it, but the blade made contact with the rear of his pants, forming a long tear along the smooth cloth. **

Naruto's arms fell limply to his side, the leftover kunai falling from his grip, landing strait up out of the ground. His eyes widened considerably. "Wh-.. What are you?"

A clump of red-orange fur squeezed out of the hole the kunai created in Sumaru's pants. It emerged into a tail. And if that wasn't enough to ruin anybody's appetite; yet another tail erupted from the boy's trousers. And another. And another. Until a total of six long red-orange fur tails could be seen flailing about.

"You see… Uzumaki Naruto… I am just like you…" Sumaru turned slowly around to face Naruto. "I too have a demon inside of me. More specifically; a Six-tailed fox demon; A relative of the Kyubi inside of you, brother."


	4. Search Party Part 2

****

Chapter Four

--Search Party Part 2

"B-brother?…" Naruto said slowly. As if the thought hadn't quite sunk in. He had been alone all his life. Just the thought of having a relative filled his insides with joy. But at the same time he was overwhelmed and confused.

Sumaru nodded faintly. "As I'm sure you already know, twelve years ago the Fourth Hokage sealed the Nine-tailed Kyubi within your body." Naruto nodded to show he understood. "What you did not know was that after that incident Konoha ordered that all of the Kitsune in the land were to be sealed inside the bodies of newborns." Naruto nodded again. "But in my case, I was still developing within the womb when they sealed the beast inside of me. My mother passed giving birth to me…"

Sumaru paused for a moment and formed a strange hand gesture that Naruto did not recognize. He bowed slightly; It looked as if he was praying. "But luckily…" he began once more. The suddenness of it made him jump a bit. "My two brothers, Naku… and Kintaro…" He pointed to each of his two fellow fighters in turn as he said their name aloud. "took good care of me. But…" Sumaru began fiddling with a cloth wrapped around the top of his head.

__

'But? There are a lot of ups and downs to this case…' **Naruto thought.**

****

The knot came undone and the cloth fell slowly to the ground. "My abnormalities made it rather difficult to lead a normal life. "

Naruto wasn't sure if 'abnormalities' was the correct word for it. Where the cloth had once been, two equally-sized fox ears protruded from the top of Sumaru's head. The twitched attentively a few times. Then Sumaru walked over to where Naruto's thrown kunai lay on the ground.

"I think they've heard enough…" Naku said from behind Naruto.

Naruto looked all around him. "They? They who?"

"There's no reason to hide from us you three…." Naku continued.

"Three? Nobody even knows I'm here." Then he suddenly remembered that Sakura and Iruka-sensei did know. "Damn…" he muttered under his breath. Sure enough, two Genins and a Jounin descended from the treetops. Kakashi came down first, closely followed by Shikamaru, then Sakura. All three landed deftly on their feet. Kakashi was holding his copy of Para Para Paradise open, but wasn't reading. 

He simply said, "I had no idea…" He tucked his book away and walked over cautiously to where Sumaru stood, Naruto's kunai in hand. Sakura glanced over at Naruto, who turned away after catching it.

'I can't believe she told them!' Then he remembered what he had said to her before he left his house. He wondered what she did after that,

---Naruto's Imagination---

*The Inner Sakura is picking up chairs and tossing them through windows. She moves the stove under the window drapes and turns it on full blast. Within seconds Naruto's home is ablaze, and Inner Sakura is laughing maliciously.*

---Naruto's Imagination---

Naruto slowly turned his head to face her. Their eyes met for a split second, then Sakura broke the gaze and began to blush fiercely. He didn't have time to analyze the situation, because from behind him he heard a familiar voice say, "How troublesome… I came all the way out here for nothing…" Naruto only knew one guy in Konoha --no, the world-- that used the word 'troublesome' in everything he does. He spun around and sure enough, he found Shikamaru leaning against the trunk of a tree, arms crossed, and staring off dazedly into the night sky.

"Hey! Shikamaru! What are you doing here?"

"Tch… your so troublesome Naruto…" Naruto wanted to curse him out, but didn't have a chance to because Kakashi was coming his way, closely followed by the half-kitsune, Sumaru.

"These three want to stay with you, Naruto, and become citizens of Konoha."

"What?! Stay with me? But my home is too small. It can't fit three more people in it!"

"Hmm…" Kakashi seemed to be thinking hard; a little too hard. He had probably already thought up of a back-up plan beforehand. "Ok then… How about this: Sumaru will stay with you, Naku will stay with Shikamaru---"

"What?! Why me? I have nothing to do with this!" Shikamaru burst out.

"Well… he can't live with me, and a male stranger staying with Sakura is out of the question, and Sasuke would lost his mind… So your stuck." He smiled.

"Tch! How troublesome…"

"And Kintaro will live with me…"

"Did you not just say that they couldn't live with you?!"

Kakashi smiled again. "Correction: I said Naku couldn't stay with me."

"Kakashi-sensei… I despise you…"

He took out his copy of Para Para Paradise ."I love you too Shikamaru…" The whole party, including Kintaro who had not spoken a word, burst into laughter. 


	5. House Guests

(Sorry about the long time between Chapter updates, folks ^^")

Chapter Five

--House Guests

"Naruto…" Sumaru shook Naruto gently in an attempt to wake him. He had been up for hours, and not wanting to disturb him he let Naruto sleep, but now he was tired of waiting. "Naruto… brother." Finally Naruto's eyes fluttered open. He sat up in his bed and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. 

"Ugh… Sumaru?… What time is it?"

"A little after two." Sumaru replied. 

"AM?" Naruto turned to look out the window. It was bright as day outside. The sunlight burned his early morning eyes. "Guess not…" He climbed groggily out of bed and walked to the bathroom to wash and groom himself. As he was washing he heard some scratching noised against the door. "Sumaru?"

"Um… I was wondering…" Naruto could hear the uncertainty and discomfort in his voice. "If you could show me around Konoha. I've never been here before, but Naku and Kintaro have."

"Sure thing! I'll show you all of what Konoha has to offer!" Sumaru let out an excited laugh. For the first time since Naruto had met him, he was acting like a normal eight-year old kid.

***The Nara (Shikamaru) House***

"Don't you ever sleep?" Shikamaru said. Naku had been standing against the wall all night long. 

"What do you mean? I was sleeping…"

"Are you telling' me you sleep standing up?"

"Yes."

He looked at him awkwardly. "You people are weird… First a kid with a tail and ears…" He patted his hind and head as if there really was a tail protruding from above his buttocks and a pair of extra ears on top of his head. "Kinda makes me wonder what kind of freak that guy Kintaro is… How troublesome…"

Naku stepped up to Shikamaru, got in his face, and looked him strait in the eye --- or at least that's what he though, since his eyes were completely covered by a black thick cloth. He pointed his thumb at himself. "You want to play this 'freak' in a game of Shougi?"

"Tch… I'll have you know I've never been beaten before." Shikamaru said proudly.

"I think I'll be the judge of your skills…"

***The Haruno (Sakura) House***

"So the other two are at Shikamaru's and Kakashi's?" Sakura nodded in reply. Sasuke sipped on the tea that she had handed him. "Naruto's brother…"

"Yes, I was surprised too. But you know… they're not really related."

"What to do mean by that?" Sasuke got to his feet.

Sakura realized her mistake and made an attempt to correct it. "Umm, I mean… They're really half brothers by marriage!" Though her cover-up seemed quite feasible, Sasuke didn't look at all convinced. She smiled sweetly.

"Your hiding something, Sakura-chan…"

"So are you!" He looked absolutely shocked. 

"I don't know what your talking about!" He crossed his arms and turned around angrily, obviously trying to hide his expression. 

"Then why is that when you said, 'brother', that you looked really angry and sad?"

"Tch… that's my business…" He stepped around the tiny table that separated them and headed for the door.

"Are you leaving Sasuke-kun?" Sakura followed him.

"I want to meet this Sumaru kid, and the other newcomers as well."

"Then I'm going with you!" Before he could protest she was already up the stairs to fetch her things. "As Shikamaru would say at a time like this… 'How troublesome'…"

***The Nara (Shikamaru) House, again***

"How troublesome… its like he's reading all my moves." They had been playing their game of Shougi for more than two hours. "He doesn't take any consideration in his moves, yet he's beating me…" Naku was staring (meaning his head was up) at Shikamaru, waiting for him to make his move. "What is his secret? It must be some kind of technique I haven't heard about. He can't be a better strategist than me…"

"No."

"No? No what?"

"I am not a better strategist than you, Nara Shikamaru."

He looked completely horrorstruck. "So then…you…."

"I have the ability to read minds, yes."

"Tch… How troublesome…" Naku smiled. "Fine, you win…" Shikamaru stood up from his crouched position. Just as he did so, there was a rapping at the front door.

***The Hatake (Kakashi) House***

"I suppose you'd like for me to show you around Konoha." Kakashi said, looking over the top of his copy of Para Para Paradise.

"No, I've been here before. I was a merchant for our village."

"Interesting… What kind of goods did you barter?"

"Mostly Ramen products, they seem to be very popular here." Seeing the astonished look on Kakashi's face, he asked, "Are you a big Ramen eater?"

"No, but I know someone who is."

***The Streets of Konoha***

"And there's the village's farm," Naruto pointed to a large wooden shack with a rooftop made of dirty yellow hay. From a distance they could see a man in overalls chasing around chickens. "That's where all the animals are kept. And over there…" He turned to a tall ominous-looking black dome, decorated with statues of gargoyles and demons. The sky and clouds above it matched the building's dark outlook. "Is the Training Dome. Its more dangerous than Practice Area #44." (from now on will be referred to as: The Forest of Death.) "And _there_!!" Naruto said excitedly. "The Ramen Bar!" He dug into his pockets, searching for any kind of paper. Nothing. 'why didn't I eat before we left?…'

"Your hungry, aren't you?" Naruto turned to face him and nodded sadly.

"Its ok," Sumaru reassured him. "Kintaro and your sensei are coming this way." Indeed, both Hatake Kakashi and Kintaro were walking towards them. 

"Kakashi-sensei!" He said excitedly at first, then a little embarrassed. "Do you have any money?"

"Nope."

Naruto returned to his sulking state once again. Then Kintaro spoke from behind Kakashi, "I know the woman at the Ramen Bar." Naruto yelped in excitement. "I can pull some strings and get you guys a free meal." Naruto leapt onto Kintaro like a schoolgirl jumps onto her crush. As he did he felt rough paper scratch against his skin. He pulled a book out of Kintaro's pocket and read the cover: "Para Para Paradise".

'Great'… Naruto thought. 'Another closet-chikan (hidden pervert)…' He slipped the adult book back in his pocket innocently. He whispered to Kintaro, "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone." And added a secure wink to seal the deal. 

***About 12 seconds later at the Ramen Bar ^^"***

Naruto slurped up a bowl of chicken Ramen non-stop, devouring its contents within seconds. As he finished he slammed the bowl down on the table. "TIME!" Sumaru stopped the stop-watch that Kakashi had handed him and read the recorded time aloud. "28 seconds! That's a new record. Your amazing Naruto-kun!" He smiled in mild admiration.

"That's why he's my best customer." Lenne said from near the rear of the shop. She walked up to the counter and placed her hands folded on top of it right in front of Kintaro. He blushed visibly and removed his hand from the counter. "Want another bowl?"

"No thanks, I'm stuffed!" Lenne asked the others the same question, all declined. "Kakashi-sensei?"

"Mfm?" Kakashi had a mouthful of Mushroom Ramen, still attempting to talk normally.

"Where are Shikamaru and that Naku guy?"

"Not sure, haven't seen sight nor hair of them all day."

"Then lets go pay 'em a visit!" Naruto hopped off his stool and began walking, not caring if any of the others were coming. The others quietly set down their bowls and followed him. Kintaro stopped mid-step and spun around in his tracks. He walked back up to the Ramen shop counter, where Lenne was picking up the leftover bowls. She smiled sweetly as he approached her.

He leapt over the counter with one hand. The unexpected action startled Lenne, and she in her surprised state she dropped a bowl. It cracked loudly on the floor. Not caring, Kintaro knelt on one knee in front of Lenne. He took her hand in his. When he spoke it was in a highly fake Shakespearian voice, though void of the terminology: "I … I don't… have much time…" Lenne stared at him curiously. "They say… I only have a few weeks…"

She bent down and leaned in close to him. Kintaro blushed furiously. She lightly brushed her lip against his. When she pulled away, she said "You know… Para Para Paradise isn't only for men…" And for that brief moment, Kintaro was the happiest man alive. "I'll go on a date with you, on one condition: you win the upcoming tournament."

"A tournament?" She handed him a flyer. Most of it was black and had flames soaring from the left to the right side.


End file.
